The CISO Evolution

CHAPTER 8Communication – You Do It Every Day (or Do You?)

The art of communication is the language of leadership.

— James C. Humes

Opportunity

It is far beyond the scope of this book to outline all of the tips and techniques to unlock these benefits or to provide you with a PhD in communications; however, we will review some of the practical concepts that we found, throughout our collective experience, to be the most impactful in a cybersecurity leadership context. Communication skills are as perishable as a golf swing. Use them or lose them, as you will see below.

My parents are Greek immigrants who came to the United States in the 1970s, and they raised my sister and me speaking Greek in our home. I love being bilingual. It has served me very well, from communicating with my parents and family abroad to giving me an advantage in the application and recruiting process of various roles throughout my career. Interestingly, I never needed to use Greek in a professional setting until this year.

My father had a good grasp of English as he was the primary breadwinner for our family and used English every day. My mother, however, was a “stay at home mom” for most of my youth, and as a result she only picked up enough English to understand most of a conversation, but not enough to speak effectively. Ironically, my mother's English was the best during the O.J. Simpson murder trial as she was glued to the TV all day. Shortly after that trial ended, one satellite TV provider started ...